Today I have a guest article by Stephanie Carroll, the author of the debut novel, A White Room. Her book has a Victorian Gothic feel and so she discusses what might make a gothic novel, based on her research, and also her opinion on the subject. She asks a few questions of readers at the end of her article, so she’d love for you to take a minute to comment if you’ve read the post. What does “gothic novel” mean to you?

Also, we’ve had a giveaway running for an e-copy of A White Room for a few months (see my review of A White RoomHERE and my interview with Stephanie HERE). Please make sure to enter to win by going to her website here: http://www.stephaniecarroll.net/p/the-binding-of-saint-barbara.html and clicking on the Rafflecopter Giveaway under Oh, for the Hook of a Book. Open until August 31, 2013! Best of luck!

***************************************************

What Exactly is The Gothic Novel?by Stephanie Carroll, Author of A White Room

Reviewers have compared my debut novel A White Room to the classic gothic novels The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (thank you Oh, For the Hook of a Book!). I was so delighted when this happened because I wrote my novel in a way I felt was reminiscent of gothic fiction, but when I looked at other gothic novels, mine didn’t seem very gothic in comparison. That led me to wonder, what exactly is a gothic novel?

Note: I’m not an expert on the gothic novel, so I am including my sources for where I got my information, and for you, in case you’d like to do further research.

The Origin of Gothic

The term gothic actually derives from the Visigoths and Ostrogoths (the barbarians) who conquered Rome in the 5th Century A.D. After the collapse of Rome, the world fell into a dark age and the Goths were ultimately forgotten until artists and architects rediscovered Greco-Roman culture during the Renaissance. They began to refer to certain (barbaric) architecture built during the middle ages as gothic even though it wasn’t necessarily built by the Goths. These were castles, mansions, and abbeys, many of which were in ruins.

Writers developed the first gothic novels in England from 1790 to 1830. These works were termed gothic because they took place in and around gothic buildings and architecture. Many themes and conventions developed that also came to define the gothic novel. In addition to usually taking place in a mansion, castle, or abbey, these buildings were often in ruins in the story, which created a mood of mystery and dread because it reminded readers of a world lost, a fallen society, or a world in decay. The hero was usually isolated in some way, and the villain was usually a man who had fallen from grace and represented the epitome of evil.

These novels also dealt with serious real-world fears like murder, rape, and sin, but on an exaggerated level and often times through the supernatural, so the gothic novel also became associated with horror fiction. Some examples of gothic literature from this time period are Matthew G. Lewis’s The Monk and Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho.

Another form of the gothic novel came about in the Victorian Era starting in the 1880s (my kind of gothic). The setting, again, played a role and usually involved a large, dark mansion. Like the previous gothic novels, these dealt with frightening real-world themes also on an exaggerated level and with the use of the supernatural. This is when Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written. Victorian fears seen in gothic fiction included insanity, sexuality, incest, and the fear of progress.

At this time, the modern world was quickly advancing in science and technology (automobiles, electricity, etc.) and society had its concerns about the consequences to mankind. This is quite obvious in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which reveal society’s fears by demonstrating the horrors technology could have on the human body.

According to experts, the gothic novel is a cyclic occurrence in literature, something that is revived to express or deal with society’s anxieties.

Gothic culture has boomed in the twentieth century in style, music, movies, and more. The modern gothic novel is a little bit more difficult to pin down though. Some people would argue that the thriving horror and gore genres are our modern day gothic. Others would argue that the modern gothic would be anything similar to the works of Tim Burton, whose dark, macabre style has been a focal point of gothic culture for years.

Yet, if you look around the internet for the modern day gothic novel, you will find all kinds of suggestions. Horror Novel Reviews lists The Body by Stephen King (later made into the classic and awesome film Stand by Me) as a modern day example of a gothic novel. Goodreads lists Kate’s Morton’s The Forgotten Garden. Amazon UK lists The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.

An Opinion

From what I can tell, all gothic novels in the past were contingent on a few specific elements.

In all of the original gothic novels, a creepy old castle or mansion was in the mix. Now you might be thinking that means only writers willing to set their novels in the past can qualify, but keep in mind that the original gothic authors were placing contemporary characters into a setting that was old and decaying. They weren’t setting their stories in the past when those buildings were in use.

Now, I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that the architecture has to be from the middle ages. The Victorian gothic novel didn’t stick to middle ages architecture, but the setting was usually in a large, dark mansion, which felt reminiscent of that architecture. Or those mansions may have all technically been gothic architecture as there was a gothic revival in architecture in the Victorian Era. However, I don’t have a source that confirms that theory.

Something else that seems to define the gothic novel is the presence of contemporary anxieties that often tap into our darkest fears. In that definition The Body would qualify, but I just can’t accept that movie as gothic because it doesn’t have the dark aesthetic.

What does modern day gothic style, music, and movies prove about gothic culture? It’s contingent on the dark aesthetic. I don’t think that dark aesthetic has to be historical in nature, but I do think it needs to be there in order for something to be categorized as gothic. Now does that mean it needs to be at a Tim Burton level? No! Definitely not! I think the gothic aesthetic can be achieved in many ways, and I’m sure there are all kinds of novels that qualify.

In my opinion, to be truly loyal to the origins of gothic though, a novel needs a traditional or similar setting, dark aesthetic, and themes involving mankind’s deepest, darkest fears. Dealing with those fears using the supernatural is a major bonus.

With that definition a novel like The Forgotten Garden would fit, but how many people would say they recognized it as gothic? And what about novels that only have one of these three aspects—that includes my own novel— or none at all but still seem recognizable as gothic?

Well, one answer is that my definition is totally wrong. =/

Another possibility is that novels that fit the genre but don’t appear gothic or others that don’t fit the genre but do appear gothic might not be true to the tradition, but might be on the verge of a new gothic genre, subgenre, or adjacent genre, which is much more exciting than subscribing to what has already been done.

It’s called breaking tradition, and what’s awesome is that actually goes back to the tradition of the gothic novel. The original gothic novels were born out of the Romantic tradition in literature, but the authors used the gothic novel to break Romantic conventions and created something brand new. (The Gothic Novel – UC Davis)

So what is your opinion? What do you think are the modern gothic novels of our day?

What do you think makes a novel gothic at all?

Author Stephanie Carroll, Biography~

As a reporter and community editor, Stephanie Carroll earned first place awards from the National Newspaper Association and from the Nevada Press Association. Stephanie holds degrees in history and social science. She graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Fresno.

At the close of the Victorian Era, society still expected middle-class women to be “the angels of the house,” even as a select few strived to become something more. In this time of change, Emeline Evans dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when her father dies unexpectedly, Emeline sacrifices her ambitions and rescues her family from destitution by marrying John Dorr, a reserved lawyer who can provide for her family.

John moves Emeline to the remote Missouri town of Labellum and into an unusual house where her sorrow and uneasiness edge toward madness. Furniture twists and turns before her eyes, people stare out at her from empty rooms, and the house itself conspires against her. The doctor diagnoses hysteria, but the treatment merely reinforces the house’s grip on her mind.

Emeline only finds solace after pursuing an opportunity to serve the poor as an unlicensed nurse. Yet in order to bring comfort to the needy she must secretly defy her husband, whose employer viciously hunts down and prosecutes unlicensed practitioners. Although women are no longer burned at the stake in 1900, disobedience is a symptom of psychological defect, and hysterical women must be controlled.

*********************************************************

Reminders: Enter the giveaway via link at beginning of the post! Also, Stephanie would love your comments on her questions posted about gothic literature; those are located at the end of her post.

I enjoyed reading this very much. Rebecca is a newer favorite of mine, but I’ve always been drawn to gothic literature. I started reading it long before I even knew what gothic lit was, so I often just thought of it as “that creepy style I like so much.”
As for modern gothic works…I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire” (yes, that’s really the title) by Neil Gaiman is a sort of silly take on gothic writing that I liked quite a bit. (Then again, everything that Neil writes is something I end up liking quite a bit!)
Also, if you enjoy theater, Punchdrunk has a production in New York called Sleep No More: it’s a noir telling of Macbeth with bits of inspiration from Hitchcock and DuMaurier. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure piece of promenade, immersive theater, and it’s not only gothic but just plain amazing.
Thanks for this spotlight. Lots of fun to read, and gave me lots to think about. 🙂

Rebecca is a great book. She has some great other books too. I do think “gothic” can take on various forms and I really like Victorian Gothic, which means to me gothic in the victorian age setting. Nathaniel Hawthorne and I are relatives and House of the Seven Gables always brings that gothic aura too, in my mind.

I have heard of Neil Gaiman, but haven’t read anything yet. I’ll have to check him out and the theater production sounds fabulous if it ever comes anywhere near me. Gothic style is making a comeback I think. Some horror authors that I know are also trying to bring it back. Samhain Horror’s editor, Don D’Auria is doing a submission call right now for gothic novellas for a four novella publication! Jonathan Janz’s The Sorrows is an example of moodern gothic horror to me….ancient castle on an island with modern characters in it, with supernatural elements.

So many new names and titles to add to my to-read list; thanks for that! It’s a genre that I hope will endure; I do enjoy seeing terrifying things on the page while being safely wrapped in my blankets.
It must be an honor to have such a big literary name (and talent) in the family!
And I do hope that you enjoy Gaiman if you get around to checking him out.

That title made me laugh! It’s so long! I love it! I too have noticed that several of the modern gothic examples I can think of are comedies or at least satire – like The Adams Family or Edward Scissor Hands – for movies specifically. In novels, I can think of some that are drama or horror. I recently discovered Essie Fox author of Elijah’s Mermaid – all her stuff is in the gothic style. http://www.essiefox.com/

Glad to hear you got a kick out of the title; I have to Google it every time I’m thinking of it because I can never get it right! Yes, lots of satiric gothic stuff out there, which makes sense for a genre that can seem pretty self-serious at times. (Not that I think that’s a bad thing; I enjoy the somber stuff just as much as the lighthearted.)
Thanks for the recommendation; I’ve added it to my TBR list…along with your book, of course! 🙂

We know the classics. Frankenstein, Dracula and Wuthering Heights have defined Gothic Literature for years. However, like everything, the genre also evolves over time. Unfortunately, people seem to forget this, and we end up with too many castles and enough dark and stormy nights to flood the world.

There are authors who would fall into the Gothic category, but may not market themselves as such, and there are those who so desperately want a piece of Twilight that the bookshelves overflow with twenty different authors with basically the same storyline.

Personally, I would not classify the Twilight series as Gothic. Using a vampire, werewolf, castle, ghost, etcetera is not going to solidify the Gothic core of a story. One could rewrite Rebecca today, change the characters, the setting, and it would still be a Gothic novel. We must remember, like so many things, it’s all in the head.

In so many Gothic novels, there is an internal conflict, usually very distressing. There is an existential problem. All the storms and castles are just backdrop. And backdrops change.

In Gothic novels it is the way the writer wrote, not simply what they wrote.

Categories

Archives

I'm the author of Breathe. Breathe., a dark poetry and fiction collection, published by Unnerving 2017, which debuted at #2 on the Amazon best-selling paid charts right behind NYT best-selling author Rupi Kaur's newest release and in the Amazon paid top five of horror short stories. I am a professional journalist, writer, editor, publicist and marketing and public relations professional, and former podcast co-host, with several bachelor degrees in Journalism, English, and History from a private university.
I have over twenty years experience in a wide variety of areas in my fields and I own/operate Addison's Compass Public Relations (ten years) and Hook of a Book Media (eight years). I love books, reading, writing, art, painting, photography, nature, baking, cooking, crafts with kids, yoga, magical stories, fairytales and castles, music, dance, history.
In addition to publishing Breathe. Breathe., I also have a story in the anthology Hardened Hearts, called "The Heart of the Orchard." My story from Breathe. Breathe., "Dandelion Yellow," has also been re-printed in Project Entertainment Network's anthology My Favorite Story, right after Brian Keene's. My poem "Chained by Love," was featured in the February 2018 issue of Enchanted Conversation: a fairy tale magazine. In the anthology Dark Voices, an all female TOC published in 2018 with proceeds going to breast cancer awareness, I have a poem called "Wrapped in Battle." This year I also spent time as a co-editor on a Gothic anthology Haunted Are These Houses. So far, 2019 has seen a poem published in The Siren's Call Magazine.
I have several books, collections, and poems in various genres in process and hope to get a lot more of my own writing completed within the next year.
I run Hook of a Book Media in which I specialize in public relations (PR) and marketing for authors in many forms, as well as work as a writing coach and editor. For three years I was an editor at Sinister Grin Press and performed marketing duties. Currently, I assist Raw Dog Screaming Press with publicity in addition to my Hook of a Book clients.
I also have always volunteered in my community and most recently spent the last two years as President of the Board of Directors for a growing mental health center and rape crisis domestic violence haven.
I have way too much going on and my head is often in the clouds.